ALBUM REVIEW: Against Me!: Transgender Dysphoria Blues

Florida punk outfit Against Me! were a breath of fresh air when they surfaced in the early 2000's. Their anarchic and rebellious lyrics were like a bomb in the heart of a music scene over saturated by dull Pop Punk and even duller Post-Grunge, with albums such as Crime, Reinventing Axl Rose, As The Eternal Cowboy and Searching For A Former Clarity, (the latter being the first of the bands albums to make the Billboard 200) were some of the more exciting, albeit very underground, records released at that time and I can't recommend them enough to anyone wanting to get into the Alternative or slightly more underground rock scenes, they are accessible to new listeners while still retaining the spirit and edge of the genre. I love these records.

However as the bands popularity rose they began to lose some of that edge I loved from the early records, they just felt like they had become another over produced rock band with records like New Wave and White Crosses. Don't get me wrong I think these records have some fantastic tracks Because of the Shame, I Was A Teenage Anarchist and Thrash Unreal come to mind, I just felt a lot of the edge I liked from the earlier stuff was missing and it was a little too clean around the edges. That said if you do wish to give these albums a listen may I recommend White Crosses/Black Crosses? It's White Crosses with acoustic versions of all the songs found on the album, I appreciated the album a lot more after hearing these, they felt more raw and took the songs to a new level.

Now onto the matter at hand Transgender Dysphoria Blues. I'm sure that many of you know that vocalist Laura Jane Grace (birth name Thomas Gabel) openly came out as transgender in 2012 (I'm not going to go into too much detail because this is an album review but we here at Musical Chairs support her decision and wish her all the best.) As the name suggests a main theme of the album is gender dysphoria and some of the difficulties associated with it, this is prevalent on the tracks Drinking With The Jocks, the title track and True Trans Soul Rebel. Listening to these tracks though it never felt preachy or all up in your face lyrically, they are well crafted and clever songs with some fantastic lyrics and some great instrumentation. Speaking of great lyrics one of the highlights of the album for me was the slower acoustic track Two Coffins, Laura's vocals on this track are absolutely mesmerizing especially with that slow strumming acoustic guitar over the top which is complimented with this ringing ride cymbal played underneath it all it's certainly a track that sticks with you. Lets not get too caught up with just the lyrics and vocals on this album, Laura Jane Grace and James Bowman's guitar work is a great example of riffing which at its heart is fundamental but serves the music perfectly, the same can be said about new drummer Atom Willard playing exactly what each song needs him to play, when the song requires soft ride work he provides it and when it requires big he produces big, and for you bass heads out there you'll be glad to hear Fat Mike (of NOFX fame) and his unmistakable tone on some of the tracks providing a pulsing low end where you can almost feel every note. If I only had one major gripe with the album it's that a few of the tracks seem to meld together and get brushed over by the major tracks on the album, you can tell which tracks were given the most attention which is a little disappointing but it can be overlooked due to how incredible most of this album is.

This is a definite return to form for Against Me! hopefully giving new life to this band and a waning Alt Rock scene, if you are a fan of the band you definitely need this record, if you're a fan of Alternative Rock give this album a go and if you are just getting into the scene or want something new to listen to I will wholeheartedly recommend this band and this album.     

Recommended Tracks:

• True Trans Soul Rebel
• Two Coffins 
• Dead Friend
• Osama Bin Laden As The Crucified Christ
• Black Me Out

Review by: R. Sweeney (@Cautiouscrip)

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